Escaped Khalistan Liberation Front leader Harminder Mintoo arrested

Web Desk
| November 28, 2016

Rapid Action Force men at Nabha Central Jail, which was stormed by armed men who helped in escaping five terrorists including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo | PTI

Harminder Singh Mintoo, the Khalistan Liberation Front chief who escaped from Nabha jail on Sunday, was arrested in Delhi hours after the daring jailbreak.

According to media reports, Mintoo was nabbed in a joint operation conducted by Delhi and Punjab police. He was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district after the vehicle in which he was trying to get away was stopped at a police checkpoint.

The police also recovered guns and ammunition from the vehicle.

Mintoo is wanted in several terror cases, including the attack on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2008 in Punjab. Police had claimed that Mintoo was planning more terrorist strikes in the region.

He was earlier arrested in November 2014 as he returned to India from Thailand after being deported from there.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday evening nabbed gangster Parvinder Singh, who admitted to being one of the attackers in the jailbreak, from near Shamli town.

Media reports suggest that Mintoo decided to join the group of people who were trying to escape from the prison after he was tipped off about the jailbreak plan.

A high alert was sounded across north India after armed men attacked the maximum security Nabha jail. The attackers, dressed in police uniform, came in three-four cars and breached the tight security of the prison around 9 am.

Witnesses said the attackers fired at least 100 rounds during a well-planned and executed attack that lasted barely 10 minutes.

Despite several rounds of firing, no one was injured. Official sources said the security in the jail did not retaliate, raising suspicion.